Patterning Basics - Bodice Block (Back)

We are back at it (a little delayed, but here anyways) with part two of the bodice block tutorial. I’ve found this process a little bit easier than the front block; there’s a little bit less to navigate around. I’ll be using the same sources as before for this part of the tutorial, so head on over to the previous post to see where I’m getting my information from. There will be a third part to this series, coming in the middle of this month, so stay tuned for that!

Preparing: More Measurements, Same Materials

You’ll need the same materials as last time - pencil and paper, a ruler, an eraser, a flexible measuring tape and a French curve if you have it.

Some of the following measurements might be challenging to complete on your own, as many of them are on your back. You can do it on your own, with some minor difficulties, but it’s easiest to ask someone to help you. You’ll need to measure from the center back of your neck to the center back of your waist - this should be right along your spine - and from where your neck and shoulder meet to the center back of your waist. You’ll also need to measure from the tip of your shoulder to the center back of your neck. Measure across the widest part of your back, from your spine to your armpit.

Measure from the back of your neck to where your neck and shoulder meet. Measure from the tip of your shoulder down to your waist at the center of your back.

To figure out where to place your dart, measure from your spine to a halfway point between your spine and a side seam. Measure the entire distance from your spine to a side seam. That will be your waist arc. Reuse your side length measurement from the last tutorial, or measure from the bottom of your armpit to your waist. That’s all your measurements! Let’s get to drafting.

Step One: Another Funny Square

Like last time, the first line you’ll make is the measurement of the base of your neck to your waist. The top of that line is point A and the bottom is point B. From A, draw a line the length of your neck-to-shoulder measurement for point C. Square down 3” from this point. Mark point D on the A-B line, and that is the measurement from your neck to your waist. Square out 4” from point D. From point B, draw a line the same length as the measurement from your spine to your armpit. That will be point E and you’ll need to square up a reasonable amount. The line from point E will eventually be your side seam.

Step Two: Shaping Lines

Along the A-C line, mark point F at the same length as your neck to base of shoulder measurement. Square down from point F to the point D line. Coming diagonally up from point B, you’ll draw a line the same length as the measurement from the tip of your shoulder to your center back waist. This line will hit the squared down line from point C. Where the two lines intersect is point G. Starting from point F, draw a line the length of your shoulder plus .5”. The end of that line is point H.

Step Three: Dart Placement

For the first leg of your waist dart, use the measurement taken from your spine to the halfway point between backbone and side seam. That will be point I. Mark point K 1.75” from I. Find the center between points I and K and mark that point L. From point B, draw a line the same length as your waist arc, plus the 1.75” of the dart allowance, and that will be point J. To get the point of the dart, subtract 1” from your side seam measurement. Draw a line up from L the length of that and that will be point M. From point M, draw lines to points I and K. That’s your waist dart! We’ll focus on the shoulder dart next. From point F, draw a line that is half the measurement from point F to point H. Mark that as point N and draw a line 3” down from N. Mark a point .25” to either side of N. Connect those two points to the bottom of the line extending from N.

Step Four: Finishing

From point J, measure up the length of your side seam. The top of that line is point O. Mark point O on the line extending up from E. On the B-D line, find point P. P will be a quarter of the B-D measurement, and mark this down from point D. From P, draw a line the measurement from your spine to your armpit. That will be point Q. Square up 3” and square down 8” from point Q.

To finish the block, draw a curved line that connects points H, Q, and O. Draw a curved line that starts at point F and curves down close to point D.

And that’s it! Now you have the front and back to a bodice block. Like I said last time, you can do all sorts of things with a bodice block. Dart manipulations and style line manipulations - these truly are the building blocks to drafting all of your own patterns. I understand that this is a lot of work for something you could just go out and buy at any crafts store, but there’s something satisfying about doing it all on your own from start to finish. I’ll be back in a week or so with a final installment all about turning these dart blocks into something with curved princess seams. It’ll be easier than you think, I promise!

Until then, dear readers, stay tuned!

Sincerely,

Madeline